Pornography Use
Pornography Use
Hobby or Habit, Dependence or Addiction?
Clinical psychologist Dr. Gary Brooks has identified five principal symptoms of a "pervasive disorder" linked to consumption of even soft-core pornography like Playboy or Penthouse: (1)
- Voyeurism - An obsession with visual stimulation trivializes all other mature features of a healthy psychological relationship.
- Objectification - An attitude where women are rated by size, shape and harmony of body parts.
- Validation - Men who never come close to sex with their dream woman feel cheated or unmanly.
- Trophyism - Women become the property of the man as a symbol of accomplishment and worthiness.
- Fear of true intimacy - Preoccupation with sexuality handicaps the capacity for emotional or non-sexual intimacy.
Not all men are equally vulnerable to habitual porn use. For some men, however, Dr. Victor Cline, a clinical psychologist at the University of Utah, identified four stages of viewing pornography following initial exposure. They are: (2)
- Addiction - The desire and need to keep coming back for pornographic images.
- Escalation - The need for more explicit, rougher, and more deviant images for the same sexual effect.
- Desensitization - Material once viewed as shocking or taboo is seen as acceptable or commonplace.
- Acting out - The tendency to perform the behaviors viewed, including exhibitionism, sadistic/masochistic sex, group sex, rape, or sex with minor children.
Dr. Cline said that pornography "is the gateway drug to sexual addiction." (3)
- In a study of 932 sex addicts, by Dr. Patrick Carnes, 90% of the men and 77% of the women indicated that pornography played a significant role in their addiction. (4)
Sources:
1 Brooks, G. R. ( ). The Centerfold Syndrome.
2 Cline, V. (1988). Pornography effects: Empirical and clinical evidence. University of Utah Department of Psychology.
4 Carnes, P. (1991). Don't Call It Love: Recovery from Sexual Addictions. New York: Bantam.
APA Reference
Staff, H.
(2021, December 27). Pornography Use, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, October 12 from https://www.healthyplace.com/sex/sexual-addiction/pornography-use